The share of people who interact with a post — likes, comments, shares, saves — relative to its reach or your following.
Engagement rate measures how much your audience interacts with content, not just how many people see it. It's usually calculated as total engagements (likes, comments, shares, saves) divided by reach or follower count, expressed as a percentage. Different platforms and tools define the denominator differently, so compare like with like.
It's a better health signal than raw follower count because it reflects whether content actually resonates. A small account with high engagement often outperforms a large, passive one — and platform algorithms tend to reward early engagement by showing strong posts to more people.
Example
A post reaches 2,000 people and gets 180 total interactions. Engagement rate by reach = 180 ÷ 2,000 = 9%.
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